American Eagle Outfitters vs Burlington Stores
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put American Eagle Outfitters and Burlington Stores side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Burlington Stores is the larger business, with $11.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $5.5B for American Eagle Outfitters, about 2.1 times as much.
- Burlington Stores grew revenue faster (8.8%, against 4.1%).
- American Eagle Outfitters turned more of its sales into free cash flow (3.5% FCF margin, against 1.5%).
- Burlington Stores earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (28.1%, against 11.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Burlington Stores’s earnings: a P/E of 21.7x against 9.6x for American Eagle Outfitters.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
American Eagle Outfitters
AEO
3/10
FCF marginNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Burlington Stores
BURL
7/10
Revenue growth5-year growthGross marginNet marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-score
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AEO FY25 | BURL FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.2B | $15.4B |
| Revenue | $5.5B | $11.6B |
| Free cash flow | $195M | $172M |
| Net income | $192M | $610M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 4.1% | 8.8% |
| 5-year growth | 8.1% | 15.0% |
| Share count change | −10.3% | −0.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 36.5% | 43.9% |
| Operating margin | 4.1% | — |
| Net margin | 3.5% | 5.3% |
| FCF margin | 3.5% | 1.5% |
| Return on capital | 11.5% | 28.1% |
| Return on equity | 11.1% | 38.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$197M | $818M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.4x | 0.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $142M | $278M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 9.6x | 21.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 7 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.